Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union is headquartered in Live Oak and is the 2nd largest credit union in the state of Texas. It is also the 12th largest credit union in the nation. It was established in 1952 and as of September of 2018, it had grown to 1,964 employees and 792,958 members at 61 locations. Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union's money market rates are 3X the national average, and it boasts an A+ health rating.

Field of Membership Restrictions

Membership in Randolph-Brooks Federal Credit Union is open to those who live or work at Randolph Air Force Base, eight underserved areas of San Antonio and Austin, Texas, and employees and associates of the select employer group.See current membership details

Randolph Brooks

Creating an account is fairly easy at this bank. The problem is everything that comes after opening the account. After moving, the bank only changed my husband's billing address, and refuses to change mine, so I have to use our old address and hope that nothing accidentally gets sent there. Also, their overdraft fees are ridiculous. Unlike some of the larger banks, if there are smaller fees that are scheduled to go through on the same day as larger ones that could cause an accidental overdraft, they will not allow the smaller charges to go through first. They will insist on the larger charge being processed first, and then you will get an overdraft charge of $24 for every single small charge that was pending. This has resulted in over $100 of fees for us before, and the bank will do nothing to help. We wanted to use a small bank because it is local and easy to access, but that was a huge mistake.

THE PENDING FEE GAME

Beware of ACH drafts, if you are a member of Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union in the Central Texas metros of Austin & San Antonio. Worse than transactional ordering, this banking scheme plays on a hidden first in-first out (FIFO) running balance, anticipating customers will initiate electronic payments and make deposits at different times on a given banking day, capitalizing on the timing of both.

As stated on their website's Overdraft Protection page, "We pay all checks and debits on your checking account in order of arrival sequence throughout the day"

This practice is NOT in the bank member's best interest. Nor is this the practice of many large commercial banks. It is, however, a lucrative practice for RBFCU.

As an example, if an ACH draft presents itself to the bank at 1:10 PM and your deposit to cover the draft is processed at 1:15 PM, you will receive a $24 NSF fee, since your deposit was made five minutes after the ACH blipped on their screen. However, you, the bank member, won't see it as a posted transaction at 1:10 PM, on your online banking ledger. Most likely, it will appear as posted on the following banking day, or after 9 PM CST

Due to this nefarious and obscure transactional ordering policy, the credit union takes unfair advantage of its members' funds by intentionally refusing to clarify one daily posting/cut off time for deposits for all pending ACH or debit transactions.

However, this is not the case with all banks. One of the nation's largest commercial banks clearly states deposit cut off times for the banking day and does not assess any fees on pending items, only on overdrawn posted items that clear overnight. This superior system creates one single Ending Daily Balance that shows items that overdrew, after all deposits are accounted for, prior to the cut off time.

To avoid this unpleasant experience, what RBFCU wants its members to do is to enable Courtesy Pay to cover the Pending Item, thereby incurring a $24 fee, similar to an NSF fee. Unless funds can be drawn from another overdraft source, such as a savings account or credit line, the member will pay $24 in the form of an NSF or Courtesy Pay fee.

For all of the negative press the large commercial banks have received in recent years, it's become apparent that credit unions, like RBFCU, are really far more sinister in their fee practices, by refusing to create one cut off time for the day's deposits, to cover ALL pending or posted debit items.

Non-existent (or non-disclosed) deposit cut off times and invisible running balances, that do not update by the minute on a members online bank ledger, shadow RBFCU's true intent to collect fees, even when pending items do not truly overdraft, which would cause the use of bank funds, rather than a member's deposited funds.

Perhaps the NCUA needs to investigate this practice. If nothing else, our state legislators should be informed, if this loophole needs to be addressed as a part of fair practices required of state chartered banks, headquartered in TX, under the TX Finance Code.

http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/FI/htm/FI.201.htm

Or, it might serve local journalists and reporters a story that should be brought to the public's attention, demanding reform of an abusive bank/credit union practice, in need of enforcement under existing consumer protection acts.

Change For Worse. Used To Be Great!

A member since 1993. Now leaving Randolph Brooks. Why risk starting over elsewhere? Because at RBFCU you’re guaranteed to be treated like a number. And that won’t change. As a result of my Quarter Century of membership I can attest that stepping on its members is definitely the NEW status quo, not just a bump in the road.

Availability

San Antonio Area

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